Senate hopes to pass bipartisan bill to prevent accidents like East Palestine

Three months after the toxic train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, the Senate is putting together a bill to improve rail safety in the United States. This objective was the origin of the name of the initiative, which is called the Railway Safety Law. Legislators from both parties hope to approve it as soon as possible to prevent a similar accident.

The bipartisan bill will reach the Commerce Committee on May 10, thanks to two Ohio Senators, Sherrod Brown (D) and J.D. Vance (R). The Democrat is the bill's sponsor, while his colleague is one of six co-sponsors, along with John Fetterman (D-PA), Bob Casey (D-PA), Marco Rubio (R-FL), Josh Hawley (R-MO), Tina Smith (D-MN) and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN).

The legislation includes limits on train size, increased fines for railroads for safety violations, and stricter inspections with more requirements. Despite the regulations it would add to the industry, Vance and his Republican colleagues are confident they will be able to get many members of the Senate on board.

"I think it’s in the DNA of most Republicans, including myself, to be against more regulations, but I think in this particular case, given the derailments and some of the evidence, I think this is a pretty narrowly tailored bill...," Marco Rubio told The Hill.

"I hope we can reach a consensus bill that enhances rail safety but at the same time doesn’t unnecessarily drive up cost or endanger the supply chain and the ability of consumers to get the goods they need," said Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX).

The rail industry is one of the strongest on Capitol Hill, as much of the U.S. economy relies on freight trains to transport food, energy and consumer goods. Therefore, the bill as such is expected to pass and be sent to President Joe Biden's desk.

"I'm confident that legislation will pass in the Senate," said Greg Regan, president of the AFL-CIO's Transportation Department. "I feel confident that there will be legislation that gets moved, certainly out of the Senate," he added.

Ohio toxic train accident

At 9:00 pm on February 3, a train derailed in East Palestine. The train was in the middle of a route between Madison (Illinois) and Conway (Pennsylvania) and was carrying a total of 150 cars. The accident caused 38 of them to derail and another 14 to catch fire.

So far there didn't seem to be much of a problem, other than putting out the fire and getting the train back on track. The issue lay exclusively in what was being transported: hazardous chemicals such as vinyl chloride, a highly flammable and potentially carcinogenic toxic gas.

The accident produced dense smoke that concerned the governor. Faced with the danger of the explosion, residents on both sides of the border in Ohio and Pennsylvania were ordered to evacuate.

On February 5, authorities released, in a controlled manner, all of the toxic chemicals present in five tank cars and diverted the contents into a ditch, where they were subsequently burned. The Wall Street Journal reported that "a team of experts" detonated the chemicals and ignited them to "prevent a potentially catastrophic explosion following a train derailment."

There was a subsequent investigation, involving local and federal officials, primarily the NTSB and the Environmental Protection Agency. According to the results, the accident was caused by an overheated wheel bearing moments before the derailment.

The federal investigation came to the preliminary conclusion that the accident was caused by a malfunction of a railroad axle. "Surveillance video from a residence showed what appears to be a wheel bearing in the final stages of failure due to overheating moments before the derailment. The wheel set from the suspect railcar has been collected as evidence for metallurgical examination," the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said in a press release.